Healthy eating for teens

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A healthy diet can help you look and feel great. Don't follow the latest food fad: find out the truth about eating well.

Eating well doesn't have to mean giving up all your favourite foods. But your body needs energy and nutrients from food to grow and to work properly. If you don’t eat a healthy, balanced diet, you’re putting your health and growth at risk.

A healthy diet also gives you the energy you need, and can help you to look and feel great.

Beware of fad diets: they’re rarely the way to a healthy weight. Instead, use our tips to help you eat more healthily.

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If you’re feeling tired and run down, you may need more iron in your diet. Teenage girls are at higher risk of being low on iron, because they lose iron when they have their monthly period, and they are still growing. Good sources of iron include red meats, breakfast cereals fortified with iron and baked beans. Learn more in Anaemia, iron deficiency.

Don’t diet. Your body mass index (BMI) can tell you whether you are a healthy weight: check yours with our BMI healthy weight calculator. If you have an overweight BMI, aim to lose weight to bring your BMI into the healthy range. It can be tempting to follow the latest fad diet, but these don’t work: once you stop, the weight is likely to come back. The healthy, long-term way to lose weight is by combining a healthy, balanced diet with more physical activity. If you're concerned about your weight, your GP can help.

If you often feel hungry, try eating more high-fibre foods such as wholemeal bread, beans and wholegrain breakfast cereals. Foods with fibre are bulky and help us to feel full for longer, and most of us should be eating more of them.

If eating makes you feel anxious, guilty, or upset, or you’re often worried about food or your weight, you may have an eating disorder. Help is out there: tell an adult you trust. Learn more in Eating disorders explained.

An eating disorder can be one reason for being underweight, but it’s not the only possible reason: an unhealthy diet can stop you from eating as many calories as you need. Being underweight can cause health problems, so if you’re underweight it’s important to gain weight in a healthy way. Learn more in Underweight teen girls and Underweight teen boys.

Aim to eat at least five portions of a variety of fruits and vegetables a day. They are good sources of many of the vitamins and minerals your body needs. It’s not as hard as it might sound: fruit juice, smoothies and vegetables baked into dishes such as stews can all count towards your total. Learn more at Why 5 A DAY?

Don’t skip breakfast. Skipping breakfast won’t help you lose weight: it just makes you more likely to eat snacks that are high in fat, sugars and salt later in the day. A healthy breakfast is an important part of a balanced diet, and provides some of the vitamins and minerals we need for good health. Whole grain cereal like muesli with fruit sliced over the top is a tasty and healthy start to the day.

Make sure you drink enough fluids. Aim to drink six to eight glasses of fluids a day: water, unsweetened fruit juices and milk are all healthy choices.

Watch out for any "low-carb" diets, or any eating plans that advise you to cut out certain food groups. This can be unhealthy, because you may miss out on nutrients from that food group. Low-carb diets can be high in saturated fat, and eating too much saturated fat can cause high cholesterol. Other diets involve cutting out dairy foods such as milk, yoghurt and cheese. These foods are high in calcium, which you need to ensure your bones grow properly. Choose low-fat dairy foods when you can: 1% fat or skimmed milk is just as nutritious as full-fat.

At snack time, swap foods that are high in saturated fat or sugars for healthier choices. High saturated fat foods include pies, processed meats such as sausages and bacon, biscuits and crisps. Foods high in added sugars include cakes and pastries, sweets, and chocolate. Both saturated fat and sugar are high in calories, so if you eat these foods often you’re more likely to become overweight. And too much saturated fat can also cause high cholesterol. Learn more in Eat less saturated fat.